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Tempest by Beverly Jenkins
4.0
adventurous emotional lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
Beverly Jenkins is a legend for a few reasons. 
  1. She is a Black woman writing romance focused on Black joy, and she’s been at it since the early 90s!
  2. Her work focuses on Black love in historical settings where Black people are typically only portrayed in the context of slavery. 
  3. She literally assigns homework in her author’s notes. 🤓

Now, on to Tempest! Tempest is set in the Wyoming territory in the 1870s and centers on a kickass female lead, Regan, who is headed to meet a widower, Dr. Colton Lee, as his mail-order bride. Things get off to kind of a rocky start because Regan shoots Colt on sight. Oops.

The relationship between Regan and Colt eventually warms as she settles herself into life in the territory and helps Colt raise his daughter, Anna. This book is full of old west vibes: one room schoolhouses, wild cougars on the loose, meddling townsfolk, and plenty of excitement. It’s decently spicy and Regan is a woman who knows what she wants, whereas Colt has a few old-fashioned ideas about “decent women” 🙄. I think my favorite parts of the book are when Regan disabuses Colt of those notions. 😂

I particularly enjoyed the history lessons Jenkins wove through the story such as Dr. Lee’s MD from Howard, and the Rock Springs riots during the construction of the Union Pacific railroad. Dr. Lee is also an adherent to Dr. Lister’s germ theory, so is extremely clean about his work - a relatively new idea during the era. These are little geeky details that I love!

👍🏻Recommended for fans of westerns, American history, strong heroines and Black joy.